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PROS

CONS

VERDICT

A little bit Pokemon, a little Final Fantasy, Dragon Island Blue has the makings of an engaging game, but its presentation and pace weigh it down.

Full Review

App Store Info

With dragons thought to be an extinct species, and you just happening to find a dragon egg next to your village, a grand adventure begins. When first loading up Dragon Island Blue, it wasn't set in stone what type of game we were expecting to play, but what unfurled is a mix between an old school JRPG and a mix between Pokemon and Monster Hunter.

The game begins with you choosing what element of dragon you've found out of the four elements of water, fire, air, and earth. From here you can begin to train up said dragon to become a worthy fighting force alongside a plethora of other monsters that can be captured and trained, or like any other creature you obtain, it can be transmuted into a soul stone that can be used to upgrade and enhance the creatures in your possession.

This begins the potential depth of Dragon Island Blue. Entering fights will often give you a chance to capture your enemy as a card, and thus you can choose to fight and train these new creatures, add them to your collection, or use their power to bolster your current fighting forces. Fights consist of up to three enemies taking on your team of up to three monsters. It's turn based, with options of attacks, status effects, and defensive maneuvers being available to choose from. These attacks can be accomplished with a swipe, but the reading of these inputs is sketchy at best so its probably best to just tap on what you want to accomplish. Travel is handled by tapping on waypoints that lead to other waypoints (or a fight or dungeon). In dungeons you tap to move from room to room, and there is never any rush to make a decision.

In town your creatures recover their health, and you can accept up to eight quests to accomplish for rewards and also to move the plot forward. All your transmuting and shopping is done in town too, so these end up being your hubs after every successful fight or dungeon crawl.

The designs of the monsters themselves are impressive, but there is little animation to the game and at time it feels like a high quality browser title. Actually that's kind of the feel of the gameplay all round. The pace is quite slow and while the mechanics are deep, they feel quite outdated considering other JRPGs on the platform, or even compared to the plethora of action based Korean RPGs. Fans of the genre who don't mind this slower pace will find their time and energy rewarded, but Dragon Island Blue does ask for a large investment of time and patience, and that's going to drive off a lot of potential players.

"If you were looking for a Pokémon experience on iOS, Dragon Island Blue delivers exactly what you seek...I can’t recommend it enough." -AppAddict.net

"I was blown away when I saw Dragon Island in action. The amount of creatures in the game, coupled with the ability to evolve them and level up your own character has the potential for just a ridiculous amount of customization and strategy." -TouchArcade.com

Ever wanted to build an army of monsters? Dragon Island brings monster training and catching to a whole new level.

Your journey begins when you find a dragon egg on the hills near your village. Dragons were previously thought to be extinct. You and your dragon must discover why dragons, gone for so many years, have suddenly returned to the world! While exploring Dragon Island you will find:

★ Over 200 monsters. Catch. Combine. Evolve!
★ Strategic battles with hundreds of abilities
★ A game world so big it takes 16 screens to see
★ Collect gems, recipes and Soul Stones
★ 11 spirit totems, summon Time, Fate and more
★ A quest system tied to the game’s plot
★ 15 dungeons, including the Infinite Dungeon
★ Unique combat system: Army vs. Army
★ Unlock Breeder Licenses in the Arena
★ Universal app with Game Center support
★ Exclusive and Optimized for IOS, No DPads!
★ Challenges such as the Collection Hut, Capture Quests and Dragon Overlord hunt

Can you defeat the Dragon Overlords? Can you solve the mysteries of Dragon Island?
Thanks for playing!